A semiconductor module including an electronic element formed with a chip, or the like, and sealing resin for sealing the electronic element is conventionally known. An exemplary conventional semiconductor module like this is described in JP 2011-114176A. JP2011-114176A discloses a power semiconductor apparatus equipped with a power semiconductor element, a pair of first metal members arranged so as to sandwich the power semiconductor element, a pair of insulating layers stacked on a pair of heat dissipation plate so as to sandwich the pair of first metal members, and filling resin that is filled so as to cover: a first power semiconductor element; the pair of first metal members; and the pair of insulating layers.
When an overcurrent has passed through the conventional semiconductor module, the electronic element formed with a chip, or the like might be broken, wiring connected to the electronic element might be fused, and sealing resin covering devices might be carbonized before the wiring is fused, in some cases. In a case where the sealing resin is carbonized, a failure attributed to heat of the carbonized sealing resin might occur.
In order to prevent occurrence of the failure, there is discussion of using flame-retardant resin as the sealing resin. Unfortunately, however, even when the electronic element fails, the overcurrent continues to pass through the electronic element depending on a circuit system. In this case, all the sealing resin might be carbonized even when it is flame retardant, leading to possible occurrence of a failure attributed to the heat of the carbonized sealing resin.